Mikefule Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 I finally got around to buying a 20 button Lachenal Anglo a couple of weeks ago. My other boxes are a 30 button Dipper and a 37 button Jeffries, so this is a deliberate step down in quality, range and versatility. The benefits of the 20 button Anglo are about the same as the benefits of the unicycle compared to the bicycle: it's cheaper and does less, but in a more quirky and challenging way, and its surprisingly better at some things. 5 fold bellows instead of the 7 fold I am used to: good for discipline. I have a bad habit of playing with my bellows stretched too far. The Lachenal is helping me to cure this. No accidental row ("bonus row") means certain chords and alternative fingerings that I rely heavily on are simply not available, forcing me to find alternatives. Fewer fingering options in each direction forces me out of some of the bad habits of playing a blurred legato. Back to the "in and out" Anglo staccato sound. No low bass for the root of the 4th chord - which makes the bad habit melodeon style oom-pah no longer an option when this chord is needed, forcing me to find a different approach. Walking basses are also much harder to find. Finding the octave below the melody is often the easiest option, and sometimes a note needs holding or repeating where I would deliberately introduce more variety on the 30 or 37 button boxes. Somehow, I get more of the "crunchy Anglo sound" this way. Not exactly Kimber, of course, but there are at least hints of that robust style starting to show through. Some tunes simply won't fit, and others need relearning - and now and again I find something that I can keep when I transfer back to the other boxes. A strange pleasure, indeed. And guilty? Because when I turn up at my next lesson and I have spent less time than I should have on that tricky series of minor chords on the Jeffries? "Well, it was like this: I was obsessively playing a box worth a tenth as much and relearning the stuff we covered in lessons 4 or 5 years ago." For anyone out there with a 30 or more button Anglo, a nice little 20 is recommended as a refreshing sorbet to clear your palate between courses of more elaborate music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Sounds pretty good, Mike! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartEstell Posted May 6, 2015 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Mike, I use a one-row melodeon for much the same purpose. Musical decluttering! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I'm contemplating taking a step in the opposite direction by acquiring a 39 button instrument. I have a very strong and guilty feeling that this is *cheating* by trying to dodge some of the rigours that a 30 button Anglo holds you too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikefule Posted June 2, 2015 Author Share Posted June 2, 2015 Samantha, I have all three sizes: 20, 30 and 37. I find that I play them differently. I enjoy a good thrash through some robust Morris tunes on the 20. The 30 is my box for more complex tunes and those where I wish to use a wider range of chords. The 37 is necessary for certain tunes - they simply won't fit on the 30. In a sense they are three different instruments. There are some fairly ordinary tunes that I play differently depending which of the three boxes I am playing. I know what you mean by it feeling like "cheating" but it will genuinely open up a whole new field of tunes for you to play. Also, as the fingering will be different for some notes, it will make you more aware of which notes you are playing - you will have to thin which note you need, rather than simly playing from habit. Have fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 As mentioned in another thread, I have a Tedrow concerTiny (one row, in D), which certianly makes me think! I sometimes change the octave of the tune notes to fit them into the compass of the instrument ... a different sort of cheating! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 As mentioned in another thread, I have a Tedrow concerTiny (one row, in D), which certianly makes me think! I sometimes change the octave of the tune notes to fit them into the compass of the instrument ... a different sort of cheating! "Cheating"? Reminds me of the story of the American general who was accused of being paranoid because he insisted that Turkish intelligence was trying to assassinate him. Then one day, as the story goes, he was shot dead... by a Turkish intelligence agent. If the danger is real, is it really "paranoia"? If the change is necessary -- or even "merely" useful, -- is it really "cheating"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samantha Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you ... [/threaddrift] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 As mentioned in another thread, I have a Tedrow concerTiny (one row, in D), which certianly makes me think! I sometimes change the octave of the tune notes to fit them into the compass of the instrument ... a different sort of cheating! Always one possible move in a session or similar musical environment: play in a higher octave, which is making a very nice sound here and there, at least to my ears... Best wishes - Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Michel Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 (edited) I use a one-row melodeon for much the same purpose. Musical decluttering! Me three. Not only is it palate-cleansing; it reminds me, whenever I pick it up, that my principal duty as a player of dance music is to provide lift and drive. And it's positively brutal in the way it exposes flaws in my technique. It's always fun to see an accomplished Irish-style player of the B/C or C#/D system, especially an older one, pick up a humble melodeon--often the instrument s/he began on. It's a joyful reunion, like a homecoming. I reckon a 20-button concertina produces the same effect. It's all you need, really. Bob Michel Near Philly Edited June 2, 2015 by Bob Michel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikefule Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 Several weeks on and still enjoying the 20. It wasn't a novelty purchase to languish int he cupboard after the first week. Strangely, I find myself playing it more than the Jeffries. The Dipper is a far nicer and more versatile box and feels luxurious after 20 minutes on the Lachenal, but there is something captivating about the 20 button Lachenal. I have learned more new tunes in the last month than in the last 6 months and I reckon I'm playing with more bounce and playing more freely. Loving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 (edited) As to strange and guilty pleasures, I have to inform you of my having received my new 25 button-, well... bisonoric... Hohner... ... m*****eon. I'm very happy that it didn't come to me some years earlier for that might have kept me away from the concertina world (as I was determined to travel the melodeon route afore).Incredible sweet, loud and complete for its miniature size (21cm bellows, all in all about 1/6 of my Hohner Club IV, tiny MOP buttons so well suited to the concertinist). Will focus my raw instincts mainly on that one, and it's even in Bb/Eb, as I had hoped it would (in order to provide keys fitting with my wife's tenor sax). All what I ever played on melodeon came back to me in no time...Her name: Preciosa, reeds virtually untouched since she had been made and sold to the single pre-owner. Valves seem to be the only real issue...Had bought her blindly, like my Excelsior - being lucky once again this time. Instead of a back-up concertina (which I can't afford at the time being) I'll take the Preciosa with me in order to not wake up without any instrument at hand (which is quite an annoying feeling, you can trust me...).Best wishes from (for this night on) the other side... - Wolfedited according to being fully sensitised by Steve! Edited June 23, 2015 by blue eyed sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anglo-Irishman Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 My present guilty pleasure is even stranger than those already confessed to. It does have to do with free reeds - but that's about all. I've reverted to the primordial state of free-reededness without bellows! Yes, prompted by a recent musical encounter, I recalled that my first musical steps were taken with the mouth organ. I still have that old harmonica that belonged to my father - it must be 65 years old now - so I dug it out and started playing a little. It was rather out of tune, and a bit weak on some frequently-used notes, so for my recent birthday, I invested in a new one. It's a Hohner Echo Harp two-key in C/G, and Hohner are still making it! It's a so-called tremolo model, with two reeds per note, tuned wet. Like those who have reverted to simpler bellows-boxes, I'm quite enjoying the restraints it imposes on me, such as "adjacent holes only" (playing in octaves is possible, but beyound my tongue technique as yet), or being obliged to stay on one row at a time (no cross-row chords). But there are new fun things to do, like varying the frequency of the tremolo by subtly adjusting the air pressure (which can be quite expressive), or flipping the harmonica over to handle a passage that modulates up a fifth. My re-learning curve is, of course, steep, because both the harmonica and the Anglo use the Richter scale. That's why I took to the Anglo so quickly at the start. So for me the mouth organ, though strange and guilty, is a pleasure to play (with). Well, pray for me, folks! Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 John, I seriously reckon this is unbeatable... "Tuned wet" doesn't even begin to describe the sound... I'll pray for your immortal soul then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikefule Posted June 24, 2015 Author Share Posted June 24, 2015 I started off as a harmonica player (harmonicist?) many years ago and recently I have been playing it a little more often. One problem is that most diatonic harmonicas are 10 holes/20 reeds and I need another couple of holes at the top to fit in some of the Morris tunes because of the missing notes if you play in the lower octave. Only Hohner make a 12 or 14 hole instrument and the quality is pretty mediocre. Almost everything on the web about harmonicas is to do with blues style. I was starting to think I was the only person playing melodies in first position! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 I started off as a harmonica player (harmonicist?) many years ago and recently I have been playing it a little more often. One problem is that most diatonic harmonicas are 10 holes/20 reeds and I need another couple of holes at the top to fit in some of the Morris tunes because of the missing notes if you play in the lower octave. Only Hohner make a 12 or 14 hole instrument and the quality is pretty mediocre. Almost everything on the web about harmonicas is to do with blues style. I was starting to think I was the only person playing melodies in first position! I'm no expert, but I've heard Irish players do standard jigs, reels, etc. on mouth harmonica. You might ask around about how they do that, i.e., how they fit the tunes to the instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Molkentin Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 You might ask around about how they do that, i.e., how they fit the tunes to the instrument. One thing for sure, it's highly unlikely that they're doing that with an Echo Harp... John, my own Mundharmonika of childhood times was of the "Unsere Lieblinge" brand, double-reeded but octave tuned if memory serves me well, whereas my mother had the C/G "Echo Harp" as mentioned in your post´- lovely remembrances if you will... However, from a today's view the tuning is in fact a bit over the top (or just adding sort of a "trash" factor), but apart from that (which is surely a matter of personal preference) mouth harp is in fact a very nice instrument to my ears, with some (Anglo?) concertinists playing it to there own squeezing (which has been discussed here at some point). Best wishes - Wolf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidcorner Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I started off as a harmonica player (harmonicist?) many years ago and recently I have been playing it a little more often. One problem is that most diatonic harmonicas are 10 holes/20 reeds and I need another couple of holes at the top to fit in some of the Morris tunes because of the missing notes if you play in the lower octave. Only Hohner make a 12 or 14 hole instrument and the quality is pretty mediocre. Almost everything on the web about harmonicas is to do with blues style. I was starting to think I was the only person playing melodies in first position! I'm no expert, but I've heard Irish players do standard jigs, reels, etc. on mouth harmonica. You might ask around about how they do that, i.e., how they fit the tunes to the instrument. Iain Grant, a late friend of mine, was an expert at Scottish tunes on mouth organ. His favourite make, as I recall, was the Japanese Tombo. Some recordings of him are available here. As you can see from the photo, he had six mounted in a circle, making key changes easier. There are a few mouth organ players in Scotland still playing traditional music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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